World of Gourd Roger
The World of Gourd Roger (GR), with the working title of Tarasov Universe, is a fan fiction universe created by Gourd Roger. It is the main setting of the one-shot manga-based fan fiction One Fate and the anime-based Third Age and Kaizoku no Blin. Unlike almost all of One Piece-based fan fictions, these works made in this universe are classified as due to violence and torture scenes thanks to a recent change in theme. Originally a steampunk-themed universe set 50 years after One Piece was set, the concept has been changed into a film noir work set in the 1940s (which is around 400 years after One Piece) in June 2016. Synopsis The World of Gourd Roger centers on Jonathan Arleigh and Johanne O. Marley, a young couple of decriminalized thieves turned pirates after a recent resurgence in piracy takes it to a whole new level, sky dominance. Introduction Geography The World of Gourd Roger is like the One Piece world. The main ocean called the "sea" is divided into several regions, namely the four Blues, the Grand Line, the New World and the Calm Belts. After the timeskip, another set of regions have been introduced, particularly within the Sea Clouds region located 7000 meters above sea level. These are Red Sea, Yellow Sea, Green Sea and Purple Sea that rest above the four Blues and the White Sea and White-White Sea that rest above the Grand Line and the New World. The Red Line remains the only continent that splits regions of the sea apart. However, there are also other landmasses that are large enough to be called "continents" such as Redrum Island, the largest island in East Blue. Culture The world is still culturally diverse as it was during the events of One Piece. However, the world starts to appear more Westernized since then. Examples include the takeover of suits replacing national attires when coming to formal events, the Sea Train becoming one of the most important mode of transportation between islands, governments changing into democracies and republics, less belief in folklore and increasing pop culture phenomena. Politics The World Government also changed from being an absolute monarchy into a parliamentary-like democracy. There is a lawmaking body that replaced the Reverie called the "World Diet" and its ceremonial main gate defines the location of its political parties. There are currently four political parties present: *Traditionalist Party - The main party seated on the right side, it represents the conservatives. They officially call pirates as criminals and urged the government for an armed action against them. The party uses the colors azure and gold. They are led by a Skypiean named Khunmyo Chakri. **Royal Blue Alliance - A faction represented by Marinnes, the race of blue-haired people. **Global Prosperity Organization - represented by Sarecenes, the race of blondes. *Freiheit Movement - The main party seated on the left side, represents the liberals and progressives. They also call pirates as criminals but allowed the creation of the Shichibukai system to buffer the tension between pirates. They use the colors yellow and black. They are led by a Tendokyoite named Satoshi Takano. **United World Organization - A peacemaking group originally aimed to end conflict between the Marinnes and the Sarecenes, it also included peace between all races in its agenda. *World for Justice - Represents the socialists and is best known for its strict policies against slavery. However, like the Traditionalist Party, they also call for military action against pirates. They use the colors red, white and black. They are led by ********. *Imperial Defence Party - Represents the political wing of the Organisation and is seated on edge seats in the right side. They use the colors black and blue. They are led by Ramon Schwarzmann, the leader of the entire organization. The Gorosei still leads the Government, representing the major five humanoid species and are only elected by the Diet. Cultural Links Genre Gourd Roger describes the universe to be a semi-steampunk, neo-noir, science-fantasy seinen adventure fanfic. *Semi-steampunk - "I mixed parts of its old theme to create a fanfic that is centered on the rule over the airspace which is heavily inspired by H. G. Wells's ''The War in the Air."'' *Neo-noir - "I will include this new twist: a film noir-inspired fanfic that will spice up the once all-sunny of One Piece. It's seinen, remember?" *Science fantasy - "Devil fruits and mythological creatures are still around, alive and well. It happens to mix well with technology of the period." *Seinen: "Oda showed you the good side of One Piece so it's definitely shonen and safe for kids. I love Side B." *Adventure - "The core of One Piece and the only thing that makes it a One Piece-based fan fiction is the adventure and goal-hunting." *Black comedy (Occasionally): "My fanfic has this kind of humor that adopts with the darkness of noir so fine, it is definitely inspired by Pulp Fiction so I think I watch it again. The problem is One Piece fans will hardly appreciate it. Let's just make it short... I fail at making people laugh in English." Subject Matter The World of Gourd Roger, being a seinen manga, gets a frankier approach of real-world subjects: *Democracy - the World Government became a functioning democracy with elections held every four years. A large legislative building was also built in New Mary Geoise. *Empire-building - Usually happen between pirates when declaring territory upon islands. *Honor killing - Most members of the Organisation, a group of World Nobles, allowed their families to kill anybody who does not come with their rules. *Organized crime - Pirates of this era appear like Mafia, Yakuza, Triad groups and drug cartels. *Political warfare - Two races control the entire World Government, the Sarecenes (blondes) and the Marinnes (people with blue hair). These two races are on a conflict with each other which claimed thousands of lives, usually slaves and retainers of their household. *Prohibition - Alcohol prohibition is prevalent and it is common for pirate crews to make rum (named under the brand "Rhum"), sake, beer and other kinds of alcohol on their own ships. *Racism - The 1940s in the real world is the peak of racist phenomenon because of the Nazi regime in Germany. In this universe, people's position in the society is determined by skin color and human-like features, with Marinnes and Sarecenes mentioned earlier being superior. *Revenge - One of the central themes of the early storyline where Jonathan avenge his father's death. *Sensuality - Common in male-audience manga, the fanfics show occasional "ecchi" scenes that pleases the sensual eye. However, it is applied very rarely. The most common examples are the "Gourd Roger Time Skip" and scenes where Jonathan and Johanne are spooning each other. Religion and Mythology Being a modern universe, it tends to keep religious and mythological influence to a minimum although still rampant. * s and s are occasionally seen all throughout the series, but usually play as side characters. s also occur alongside them. *Susano'o, a Super Rookie of the Superstar Generation, is named after , the god of the sea and storms. *Both and make appearances in the series, one example is the European-class Winter Wyvern and Asian-type Summer Leviathan. *Camelot, the headquarters of the Organisation, is the main setting of the folklore. *Sakata Kontoki is the diamond form of Kintaro (Sakata no Kintoki), a child hero from Japanese folklore. *Both the and the is has a big role in defining the admirals of the Marines. **The color themes of the present admirals depend on the Wu Xing's color assignment for each season. **Despite this, Mutsuhiro is not the yellow-themed center figure as prescribed by Wu Xing. *Kaifeng's power of manipulating sulfur as well as his red armor and horse are inspired by the , the last book in the Bible, particularly on the punishment of as well as being one of the . *Kyujitai, nicknamed the "Shaolin Monk" and was introduced as a nameless in ''KNB'' Episode 12, is a reference to the Buddhist monks in the known as practitioners of their . **Despite being a Buddhist monk-esque character, he paraphrased a Bible verse, particularly Matthew 17:20. Popular culture *During the author's release of his prototype drawings for his series, each PRP member were rated by their "Strength", "Stealth" and "Spells" abilities, similar to the "Strength", "Agility" and "Intelligence" classification of Heroes from the game . *The Organisation's members resemble chavs, a British stereotype and the British firm, a type of organized crime syndicate. *Kontoki Sakata is an intentional reference to the protagonist of Gintama, Gintoki Sakata. *Along with a good number of other characters such as Jonathan Arleigh, he is also a representation of the which is common in . *The six-tier "Criminal Threat Level System" originates from the Threat Level concept from the manga and anime series One Punch-Man. *Some of the brutal scenes in the fanfic are inspired by the works of Quentin Tarantino. **Yelena Chapayeva's personality was patterned after Dr. King Schultz, one of the main characters in Django Unchained. Some of her former lackeys have bags over their heads, resembling the Ku Klux Klan-like bandit gang from the same film. **Jonathan's vision of him killing his father's killers and his men are quite similar to the deaths in Pulp Fiction. *A certain tournament in the New World seems to be a living deathmatch featuring map styles similar to those coming from the games Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch. **The theme of Ramon Schwartzmann's Cornucopia is inspired by battle royale games such as Hunger Games, and . ***All of these are nods to the and by . *There is also a character that looks like from the game Grand Theft Auto III. *The Resistance's televised rally in Kaizoku no Blin: Episode 1 is a parody of the movie , particularly during the scene where they performed NWA's song in Detroit. **However, unlike in the movie, the intro to the actual song was included. **The Resistance crew was also made to reflect members of . **The English intro of One Piece is also ripped off during the same event. ***The translated transcript is from Funimation although the style of the overall intro came from 4Kids as it was followed by a rap song afterwards. *Hansuke Nodachi sang the while intoxicated in KNB Episode 6, but with profanity telling not to engage in intercourse with the , much to Moufassa's unpleasant surprise. * 's rebranding into "FANDOM" was referenced several times in the Kaizoku no Blin series, with the two narrators arguing as to whether or not the switch will continue and Apichart won. Both words were censored at one point as well, although "FANDOM" was censored more frequently for comedy as it sounds like "femdom" which is actually a sexual term. *The Ahegaon Cannon on the Steamboat Willie is a reference to another sexual term, Ahegao. *Jonathan Arleigh quotes Lance "Ryder" Wilson from GTA San Andreas a number of times, first in ''Kaizoku no Blin'': Episode 11. *The title of ''KNB'' Episode 12, "Generation Frick" is one of the first attempts to add social commentary to the series. This generation is named after the minced oath "frick" and describes the proper and Generation Alpha population who grew their entire lives online. **Rune Prasat also criticized the inclusion of the late 1990s people (particularly those born between 1997 and 1999) into Generation Z instead of the . **Apichart Than later extended the claim that most late '90s-born people are more liberal and/or open in general when compared to the more conservative and skeptic Generation Z, having their minds weld totally within the . **'' '' is also mentioned in Episode 12, and was mentioned as the most-disliked video later in WTF Segment 5. **The Christian server meme was also mentioned as the root cause of the "Generation Frick" name. *Kwaito quotes a variation of the "This Isn't Even My Final Form" meme while battling Jonathan. *In Episode 13, the crew creates a parody of Shokugeki no Soma as Moufassa and Jonathan making sukiyaki. **This was repeated in Episodes 15 and Kaizoku no Blin/16 when Jonathan and Taiping battled each other. *Ruby Kurosawa from Love Live! Sunshine!! was mentioned by Jonathan while arguing with Johanne. Site navigation Category:Gourd Roger Category:Universe